Archive for February, 2012

Whitefield Academy held Hebron Christian to 13 points in the Class A boys first round last week.

According to Becky Taylor of the Georgia Basketball Project, that’s the fewest points allowed in the state tournament for a boys game since 1947, when Rabun Gap defeated Mansfield 64-10 in the Class C first round.

Mansfield, a little town in Newton County, ‘’really shouldn’t even count,’’ according to Taylor, ‘’as they were the only team in Class C in their region and didn’t have to win any tournament to qualify for state.’’

The last time a boys’ team in the state tournament scored less than 20 points was 1963, when West Haralson defeated Surrency 47-19. Surrency is in Appling County.

Here are the 10 teams that scored the fewest points in a state tournament game since 1970 –

1) Hebron Christian 13, Whitefield Academy 65 (2/25/2011, 1st round)
2) Marist 24, Creekside 38 (02/28/2003, 2nd round)
3) Prince Avenue Christian 25, SACA 52 (2/21/2003, 1st round)
3) Miller …

Continue reading Whitefield Academy’s 13 points allowed vs. Hebron Christian is fewest since 1947 in state tournament »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Here are some things to look for in Round 2 of the playoffs in Class A.

Whitefield Academy vs. ….. St. Francis? Everyone expected to see a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in Wednesday’s second round, with undefeated North Cobb Christian boys taking on No. 2 Whitefield. But St. Francis has other ideas. The Knights (17-12) got 23 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks from 6-foot-7 senior Nigel Jackson en route to the 65-63 stunner over NCC (28-1). Senior guard Conner Smith and freshman forward Kaiser Gates each contributed 13 points to the win. So the Whitefield game plan will now have to change a bit. Instead of preparing for NCC’s dynamic perimeter players Corey Harris and sophomore Stephon Jelks, the Knights don’t have anyone on their roster shorter than 5-10. Whitefield dominated Hebron Christian 65-13 in the first round.

Wilkinson County boys surging. The Gordon Lee boys’ prize for winning a play-in game was a visit to Wilkinson County’s …

Continue reading Class A Basketball Blog: 5 Things to Look for in Round 2 »

Here are five teams that made a statement with first-round victories in the Class AAAA boys and girls basketball tournaments, which resume with second-round games on Tuesday and Wednesday:

*Bainbridge girls: Bainbridge (17-11) was the only No. 4 seed to survive the first round of the girls tournament, and in the process the Bearcats took down one of the state’s hottest teams. Ninth-ranked Richmond Hill (25-3) was the Region 2-AAAA tournament champion and had lost just once since Nov. 22, but Bainbridge won 62-53 behind 21 points from Briana Wade. The Bearcats face a second-round meeting with 2011 state runner-up Forest Park, which survived a 35-34 battle with McIntosh in the opening round.

*Chamblee girls: Fifth-ranked Chamblee had the better seed (No. 2 from Region 6-AAAA) but the lower ranking against No. 2 Douglas County, which was a third seed after an upset loss to Kell in the 5-AAAA tournament semifinals. Chamblee emerged as the highest-ranked team remaining in its …

Continue reading AAAA basketball blog: Chamblee girls, Lovejoy boys make statements with first-round victories »

The Class AAAAA basketball tournament resumes Tuesday with girls games and Wednesday with boys games.

Here are five questions that loom in the second round:

Can Shiloh’s size put an end to Milton? For the second year in a row, Milton’s boys are ranked No. 1 and favored to win a state championship. It didn’t happen last season, partly because Norcross outplayed Milton down low in the championship game. On Wednesday, Milton (24-4) will get a visit from fifth-ranked Shiloh (25-4), which will bring 6-foot-9 Robert Carter (a Georgia Tech signee) and 7-foot Trayvon Reed to Milton. Milton’s top big man is Tevin Glass, who had 21 points and 11 rebounds in the first-round win against Walton.

Are Wheeler’s boys a legitimate title contender? Perennial contender Wheeler (17-10) has won Region 5 and made the round of 16, but with an uneven season and few convincing wins. Maybe that chance comes Wednesday, when North Gwinnett (20-9) and Georgia Tech-signee Chris Bolden pay a …

Continue reading AAAAA blog: Five questions for round two, plus predictions »

Five things to look for in Round 2:

Can Coosa’s boys get even with Jordan?

The Eagles snuck into the top 10 on the last week when it won the Region 7 championship. All season Coosa (25-4) has been known for its shooting prowess and that continued in the first round, with Slade Shumate busting loose for 30 points and Tyler Bradley added 14. Coach John McFather’s team can really fill it up at times.

Now it’s time to see how Coosa will do against a legitimate challenger. Up next is No. 6-ranked Jordan, the team that eliminated Coosa 58-57 last year. Jordan was ranked first in the state until it lost to Manchester in the Region 5-AA title game. Jordan may come into the game more battle tested, having defeated No. 7-ranked South Atlanta in the opening round.

Will the Dawson County boys continue on their magical mystery tour?

Perhaps it is time to get rid of the “Cinderella” tag on Dawson County. The Region 8 champions opened the playoffs by gutting out a win over Calhoun …

Continue reading AA basketball blog: Five things to look for in Round 2 »

And then there were three.

We have the three finalists for the AJC’s 2012 Slam Dunk Contest. The finalists are:

• Shaq Goodwin, Southwest DeKalb HS (signed with Memphis)
• Chris Bolden, North Gwinnett HS (signed with Georgia Tech)
• Dauson Womack, North Cobb Christian HS

We began with a star-studded field of 10. We’re down to three. Go here to vote. You can vote once per hour, and the voting ends at 11:59 on Sunday, March 4.

The new AJC Slam Dunk Contest winner will be revealed and crowned on March 8.

Again, to vote, go to http://ajc.upickem.net/engine/Votes.aspx?PageType=VOTING&contestid=51652

Continue reading VOTING DAY: Final round of AJC Slam Dunk contest »

Five thoughts from he first round of the AAA state tournament:

Hanging on by talons: The Eagle’s Landing boys led by 15 points midway through the third quarter then held on for a 57-53 win over Thomson Saturday night, surviving two turnovers in the final 20 seconds and holding Thomson without a shot on a last-minute possession where the visiting Bulldogs had a chance to tie or take the lead. Afterward, they weren’t quibbling about style points. After falling in the 4-AAA championship game, they were glad to have their state championship pursuit still alive.

“The region championship wasn’t our main goal,” said center Desmond Ringer. “We want to win state.”

After a state semifinal appearance last year, they weren’t going to sneak up on anyone.

“I told them before the game that we weren’t defending last year’s run,” said Eagle’s Landing coach Clay Crump. “There are some expecations on this team. We’re looking to make a new run.”

Don’t doze on Drew: The Titans …

Continue reading AAA basketball blog: Eagle’s Landing survives »

It was another by-the-book night in the first round of the boys tournament. No top seed lost its first round game and only three No 3 seeds advanced to the round of 16. The only minor upsets were East Hall beating Dade County, Early County beating Long County, and Dodge County besting Putnam County.

The only ranked team to lose was No. 7 South Atlanta, which dropped its opener to No. 6 Jordan, 71-65.

Albany tops 100 points

The No. 4-ranked Indians didn’t have any trouble in the first round, a 100-75 victory over Appling County. It was the first time that Albany had scored 100 points in a state playoff game.

Albany (24-2) scored the first 18 points of the game, 10 of them from Tim Pierce, and coach Archie Chatmon’s team wound up posting 34 points in the first quarter. Pierce finished with 23 points and Larry Sanford scored 21; neither all-star played much in the second half.

“Without a doubt, that’s the best team we’ve seen all year,’’ Appling County coach Bryan …

Continue reading AA basketball blog: Top-seeded boys teams advance »

Boys

Class AAAAA

Class AAAA

Class AAA

Class AA

Class A

Girls

Class AAAAA

Class AAAA

Class AAA

Class AA

Class A

Compiled by Score Atlanta

Continue reading GHSA basketball brackets »

By Mario Alford
As told to S. Thomas Coleman for the AJC

I think the public and private schools should keep competing against each other because you always want to play against the best competition you can and find out who is the best.

When I was competing at Greenville, Brookstone and St. Anne-Pacelli were in our region all four years I was there. I remember the first time we went to those schools to play when I was a freshman. Pacelli’s facility was okay, but Brookstone looked like a college. We were all on the bus, looking around at the campus and the football stadium. None of us had ever seen anything like that at a high school.

Our coach told us to get focused. We lost the game (31-8), but it wasn’t because we were still thinking about how nice the school and the facility looked. We just weren’t a very good team that year and Brookstone was good, very good. I think they won the region that year. We lost to Pacelli that year, too (36-20).

My sophomore year we lost to …

Continue reading Page Two: Public-private split in Class A? Former player says bad idea »

Aquinas 70, Lakeview Academy 60: Sophomore forward Ahmed Hill led the way for the host Fighting Irish with 25 points. Ray Hopkins chipped in with 15 points and Michael Scott added 12 points. Austin Pearson led Lakeview with 22 points.

Mt. Paran 42, Wesleyan 33: The Eagles outscored visiting Wesleyan 17-2 in the fourth quarter to break open a close game. The Wolves lost despite 13 points from Will Clifton and 10 points and nine rebounds from Shane Smith.

Mt. Pisgah 49, W.D. Mohammed 38: The host Patriots put W.D. Mohammed away in the final minutes with an 8-0 run. Kyle Sloter had 16 points for Mt. Pisgah, while John Towne scored 12. Towne was nine-for-11 from the free throw line.

St. Francis 65, North Cobb Christian 63: The visiting Knights held onto a 33-29 half-time lead to advance to the second round. Forward Nigel Johnson led the way for St. Francis, scoring 23 points. Connor Smith and Kaiser Gates each added 13 points for the Knights.

Whitefield Academy 65, Hebron …

Continue reading Class A roundup »

Henry Co. 57, Josey 55: The visiting War Hawks took a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, but needed two free throws from junior guard Tondric Johnson to get the win. Josey had possession with 23 seconds left, but could not convert.

Towers 61, LaGrange 59: The host Titans got key contributions from junior point guard Tierre Smith (15 points) and senior shooting guard Brett Oakman (13 points). LaGrange was led by junior Kwame Brown who had 15 points.

Girls

North Hall 51, Pickens 41: The host Trojans took a 15-point halftime lead and maintained a double-digit advantage throughout the second half. Taylor Swoszowski scored 18 points to lead North Hall, while McKenna Rustin added 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Troup 57, Riverwood 52: The host Lady Tigers led by more than 20 points at the half before holding off a furious Riverwood rally. Tanisha Jackson scored a game-high 23 points for the Tigers, who also got nine points from Shamyah Brooks.

Compiled by Score Atlanta

Continue reading Class AAA roundup »

Cedar Shoals 66, Sequoyah 62: Visiting Sequoyah outscored Cedar Shoals 39-32 in the second half, but the Jaguars held on thanks to Kevon Scott. The Cedar Shoals point guard went 11-for-12 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter and scored 27 points total.

Chattahoochee 66, Salem 46: A stifling full-court press helped the Cougars limit Salem to six points in the fourth quarter. Point guard Jaron Blossomgame, a Clemson signee, scored 19 for Chattahoochee. Markus Terry and Trey Archambeau each added 15 for the Cougars.

Loganville 73, Creekview 59: The Red Devils used their home-court advantage in outscoring Creekview 16-4 during the third quarter. Three players scored six points each for Loganville in the pivotal quarter, including point guard Kyle Baker who notched a game-high 23.

Rockdale Co. 77, Woodland-Cartersville 73: The visiting Bulldogs led 20-12 after the first quarter and held off a late rally to defeat Woodland. Laronta Parks, C. J. Wilson and Darius Mitchell …

Continue reading Class AAAA roundup »

Alpharetta 72, Lassiter 54: Alpharetta led 31-30 at the half then pulled away with a dominant third quarter. The visiting Raiders, who attempted 38 free throws, were led by Ty Toney’s 26 points, while Carlos Burse chipped in 14.

Harrison 69, Johnson-Savannah 61: Harrison used a third-quarter surge pull away from the host Atom Smashers. Ryan Blumenthal led the Hoyas with 21 points and 10 rebounds while Marshall Guilmette and Jeremy Pressley also scored in double-figures.

Milton 68, Walton 62: In a Class AAAAA first-round playoff game, the Eagles pushed the lead to 13 in the third quarter before visiting Walton narrowed the gap to four points by the end of the quarter. The Raiders then closed to within three points and had the ball with less than a minute remaining, but couldn’t capitalize.

Shaq Johnson led Milton with 19 points. Walton’s Rico Overall led all scorers with 24. Milton hosts Shiloh in the second round.

North Cobb 78, Bradwell Institute 41: The host Warriors …

Continue reading Class AAAAA roundup »

Boys Basketball Brackets

Class A

Class AA

Class AAA

Class AAAA

Class AAAAA

Girls Basketball Brackets

Class A

Class AA

Class AAA

Class AAAA

Class AAAAA

Continue reading GHSA basketball brackets »